Freedom Takes Another Hit on U.S. Airlines

Congratulations - we're all terrorists now:

Travelers were urged to arrive early to LAX Sunday as new security measures took effect in the wake of the attempted bombing of an airliner over Detroit.

The warning comes when many holiday travelers are still expected to pack local airports for trips home.

New measures that include more scrutiny at screenings and "layers" of tightened security that passengers don't always see -- more bomb-sniffing dogs, for example -- will mean a longer check-in process for fliers at LAX, officials said.

Additionally, air travelers in the United States will have to remain seated for the last hour of a flight, and fight entertainment systems will be turned off, according to the U.S. Transportation Security Administration.

Using laptops during that last hour of flight will also be verboten. The restrictions could be little if any passenger movement during shorter flights.

There will be stricter limits on carry-on items, too.

I wouldn't care that much about all this except I have flights scheduled on Jan. 8 & 11 and it's hard enough leaving out of LAX early in the morning without having a bunch of new, silly requirements. Add in the restrictions on the last hour of flight and instead of flying being a fun adventure it's going to be like a trip on a prison bus.

UPDATE: Another restriction:

While over U.S. airspace, flight crews may not make any announcements to passengers concerning the flight path or the airplane's position over cities or landmarks.

In 1999 I made a trip to Texas and carried a hand-held GPS unit with me that I used on the plane. I liked being able to look out the window and identify where we were via the GPS.

A year later I made the same trip and started to use the GPS again and got slapped down by the flight attendant. The airline rules had changed (and this was before 9/11).

Now it appears that during the last hour of the flight, and during all of any short flights, we'll all have to sit with our faces forward and hands in our laps...just like we did in kindergarten.